Exercising plaything



July 11, 1928.

l. A. SHANTON nxaac smd ruy'rama Filed m. 22. 1926 "mus V7916 Patented July 17, 1928.

UNITED. STATES IRA SH I N. HOLLYWOQD, GALI O NIA- nxnncrsme PLAYTHING.

Application filed October 22, 1926. Serial No. 143,312.

My invention relates to an exercising toy or plaything of the general type disclosed in my co-pending application for patent filed December 24, 1925, Serial No. 77,504,

and the principal objects of my present invention are to'generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the toy disclosed in my aforesaid application as well as other similar forms of exercising toys, (I and to provide a toy or plaything of the character referred to which, when used, will produce the effects of horse-back riding which, it will be understood, is a very desirable form of exercise and at, the same 5 time theuse of the toy or plaything aflords pleasing, beneficial and interesting amusement for the users and particularly children.

Further objects of my invention are to provide a teetering toy or plaything where- 2 in the movement of the seatcarrying arm is resisted in one direction by a spring, the latter being located so as to entirely eliminate the possibility of injury to the user of the plaything in'theeveht of breakage of said said spring to the teetering arm, and further, to provide relatively simple means whereby the tension of the spring used in the plaything may be increased to varying degrees, thereby enablingthe playthingto beutilized by children or persons of different weight-s. i

Further objects of myin-vention are to provide an exercising toy orplaything that as is inexpensive of manufacture and which may be readily taken apart and folded so as to occupy comparatively little space while not in 'use or when packed for storage or transportation. i

lVith the foregoing and'other objects in View, my invention consists in certian novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed and" illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevational view ofan extoy or plaything of my improved construction. with? a portion of the base thereof in section.

part of the connection between the teetering "i ar nand the spring of the plaything.

Fig. 4 is an elevational View of avmodified spring, or of anyof the parts that connect Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the ends of a base member '11, the latter being a .flatboard or panel and provided near, one

end with a longitudinally disposed slot 12. Instead of using a single board or panel 11 with the slot 12 theieimit may be found desirable to utilize a pair of boards or panels having their ends connected to the blocks and said boards or panels spaced a slight distance apart so as to provide a longitudinally disposed slot.

Mounted on one of the end blocks 10 is a bracket 13 in which is seated a horizontally disposed bolt or rod 14 and hinged thereto in any suitable manner. is the lower end of an inclined arm 15, which, by virtue of its connection to the horizontal axis 14, is adapted to vibrate or swing through a vertical plane.

Secured to and depending from the intermediate portion of arm 15 is a bracket 16 to-which is hinged the upper end of a swinging arm or lever 17, the latter being provided at its lower end with a shoe 18, prefer ably of metal, and which latter is adapted to slide freely over metal plates or straps 19 that are secured on base member 11 to the sides of the slot 12 therein.

Depending from the shoe 18 is a short arm 20 that projects through slot 12 and detachably connected to the lowenend of this arm is one end of a link 21, the opposite end thereof being detachably connected to one end of a retractile coil spring 22that occupies a horizontal position beneath the base board or panel 11. The opposite or outer end of this spring is connected t-othe corresponding end block 10.

Mounted forrocking movement: upon a horizontal axis 23 near'the upper end of arm 15 is a'seat 24-and secured to andprojecting upwardly'from'the front portion of this seat is-a panel 25 that is shaped and painted so' as to represent the head and neck of an animal, preferably a horse-or pony. Seated in and projecting outwardly from the sides of this .anel 2,) are short rods 26 that serve as hand es to be grasped by the occupant of the seat- 24. I I

v Arranged between the arm 15; and; the lower edgeof' the panel 25 is a: spring 27 that yieldingly resists the downward movement of said panel and thus the upward movement of the seat 2% and the downward movement of panel 25 is yieldingly resisted during the rocking movement of the seat and its occupant. Mounted on arm 15 a short distance in front of the pivoted seat are foot rests 28. v

In order to minimize the friction between the shoe 18 and the plates or straps 19 during the sliding movement of said shoe over said plates, the shoe or the lower end of arm 17 may be provided at the sides wit 1 small rollers 29 which bear directly upon the plates'19 or upon the upper surface of base member 11 to the sides of the slot 12 therein.

In the use of my improved exercising toy, the child is placed on the seat 24 with the feet on rest 28 and the hands grasping the rods 26. The weight of the occupant of the seat will expand spring 22 to a certain degree and by .a slight movement of the body vertically on the seat, the spring 22 will be further expanded with the result that arm 15 will swing downward. after which the retractile power of the spring 22 will act through the connections 17, 20 and 21 to move said arm 15 upwardly.

Simultaneous with this vertical vibration or teetering of the arm 15, the seat 24 will rock on its axis 23 and thus the user of the plaything obtains the pleasing and beneficial results that are produced by horse-back riding.

It will be understood that, during the vertical swinging or teetering movement of arm 15, the lever arm 17 will swing backward and forward with its lower end bearing on the base panel 11, thus providing a yielding support for said arm 15 and the movement of the supporting arm 17 and the seat carrying arm 15 being resisted in one direction by the retractile spring 22.

By utilizing connecting rods or links 21. of different lengths, the tension of spring 22 may be readily varied so that the plaything may be utilized by children or persons of varying weights and this feature adds materially to the usefulness of the device. In some instances it may be found desirable to utilize shorter or longer springs or springs of different degrees of tension in order to enable the device to be used by persons of different weights.

An especially desirable feature of my improved exercising toy is the arrangement of the spring beneath the base panel, for by so locating the spring, all danger of injury to the user of the plaything as a result of breaking of the spring is eliminated and if for any reason the child should fall or be thrown from the seat 24, there are no upstanding parts on the appliance against which the child might strike and injure himself.

In the modified form of apparatus illustrated in Fig. l, one or more pulleys such as may be mounted on the forward one of the base blocks 10 and passing around said pulley or pulleys is a cord or cable 3i that extends through an aperture 32 in the forward base block 10 and one end of this cord or cable is connected to the retractile spring 22- that is positioned beneath the rear portion of base member 11. The opposite or upperend of the cord or cable carries a book 33 that is adapted to be detachably connected to one of a series of loops 84L that are arranged on the intermediate portion of the scat carrying arm 15; y

in this construction, when arm 15 moves downward, the cord or cable 31 is drawn-a short distance around pulley 30, thereby expanding spring 22 and on the upward move ment of the seat carrying arm the direction of travel of the cord or cable 31 is reversed and the spring 22 contracts. The provision of a plurality of loops or rings 34- on the arm 15 enables the tension of spring 22 to be varied for the accommodation of persons of different weights.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an exercising toy that is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive of manufacture and which may be advantageously used as an exercising apparatus inasmuch as the combined teetering and rocking movements produced while the toy is in use simulates the pleasing effects produced by horseback riding. I

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved exercising toy may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from thespirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An exercisingtoy comprising a base, an arm hinged to one end of said base and extending upwardly therefrom at an angle, a spring arranged beneath said base and a non-rigid connection bet-ween said spring and arm whereby the movement of said arm in. one direction is yieldingly resisted a part of which connection is mounted so as to move freely upon. the. base when swinging movement is imparted to said arm.

2. An exercising toy comprising a base, an arm hinged to one end of said base and extending upwardly therefrom at an angle a spring arranged beneath said base, a nonrigid connection between said spring and arm whereby the movement of said arm in one direction is yieldingly resisted a part of which connection is mounted so as to move freely upon the base. when swinging movement is imparted to said arm and a seat carried by the upper portion of said hinged arm.

3. An exercising toy comprising a base, an arm hinged to one end of said base and extending upwardly therefrom at an angle, a spring arranged beneath said base, a nonrigid connection between said spring and arm whereby the movement of said arm in one direction is yieldingly resisted the lower portion of which non-rigid connection is mounted for sliding movement upon said base and a seat mounted on the upper portion of said hinged arm.

4. An exercising toy comprising a base. a seat carrying arm hinged to one end of said base and extendin upwardly therefrom at an angle, a retractile spring arranged be neath the base and a non-rigid member con necting said spring with the intermediate portion of said hinged arm, the intermediate portion of which non-rigid member bears on said base during swinging movement of said arm.

5. An exercising toy comprising a base, a retraetile spring positioned beneath said base, a seat Carrying arm hinged to one end of said base and extending upwardly there from at an angle and a non-rigid connection between the intermediate portion of said hinged arm and said retractile spring for 'yieldingly resisting the swinging movement of said hinged arm in one direction a portion of which non-rigid connection is supported bysaid base. f

6, An exercising toy comprising a base, an arm hinged to oneend of said base and projecting upwardly at an angle therefrom, a spring connected to said base, and a connection from said springto the intermediate po n of said hinged arm which connection con: sts of a plurality of members, one of which is detachable to permit substitution ofmembers of different lengths to thereby cntrol the tension of said spring.

7. An exercising toy comprising a base, an

arm hinged to one end of said base and pro iecting upwardly at an angle therefrom, a spring connected to said base, a connection from said spring to the intermediate portion of said hinged arm, which connection consists of a plurality of members, one of which is detachable to permit substitution of members of different lengths to thereby control the tension of said spring and a seat pivotally mounted on the upper portion of said hinged arm. i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature IRA A. SHANTON. 

